I always get a lot of questions regarding my yummy smoothie recipe since we make it almost daily in my monthly meal plans for breakfast. Due to its popularity I thought I’d finally give the smoothie it’s own post!
We make these almost daily, especially in the summer months when fruit is so tasty and refreshing! Smoothies are a healthy and yummy way to start your day, and my kiddos love them. Now that Strawberry Shortcake knows how to make them, she likes to experiment with whatever we have on hand.
Here is our basic smoothie recipe, along with some of our favorite variations.
My Smoothie Recipe:
Ingredients:
- 1 banana (frozen is better, but I will work at room temp.)
- 2 cups frozen strawberries (Again, room temp is okay)
- 1 cup milk
- 1/2 cup vanilla yogurt (We prefer frozen yogurt)
- 1/2 cup orange juice
- Optional: 2-3 teaspoons honey to taste (The plain fruit can be a bit sour, but the orange juice helps with this, so try it before adding honey)
Directions:
Add all ingredients into a blender and mix until smooth. Pour into glasses and serve!
This usually serves my 4 kiddos and me, but they all get half glasses. If I need a little more, I’ll just add in some more milk or juice. It makes the smoothie a bit runny, but no one seems to mind and it’s cheaper that way!
Note: Really you can use any type of fruit you prefer! Here are some of our favorites alternatives:
- Mango, peach, & banana.
- Raspberry, Blueberry, and Strawberry
- Watermelon & Cherries (These are best if you use frozen chunks of watermelon)
- Pineapple & Tangerine
- Apricot & Banana
TIPS:
- Have some over-ripe bananas? Peel them and slice into small chunks. Place in a freezer bag and they’ll be ready to grab for our homemade smoothies. No more wasted bananas!
- Buy fruit like strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries in bulk when they’re on sale. Wash and place in serving sized freezer bag and they’ll be ready when you are!
In a rush? They cost a little more, but if you’re in a rush and need a fast healthy breakfast, I buy the family packs of Yoplait or Jamba Smoothies. You can find them at most grocery stores and places like Costco. Just add milk or orange juice and voila!
For more yummy smoothie recipes visit www.delish.com
I love smoothies! I usually do a protein one right after a strength workout. I do more fruit/yogurt ones for breakfast if I don’t feel like “eating”! My kids love them too!
I purchased a Ninja blender and LOVE the way it makes smoothies and turns ice into snow. If I have bananas that get too ripe I peel, slice into chunks then store in ziplocks in the freezer. I do use them fresh. Lately my favorite recipe is
1 ripe banana
8oz milk
2 Tbs finely ground quick cook oats (I used the mini Ninja chopper for this)
1 Tbs of peanut butter
If the banana isn’t frozen I add ice.
My other fav is to make a frozen sorbet type dessert in the Blender. I put 1 cup frozen berries, half & half and just a tad bit of sugar. I can’t remember the amount but it’s less than in smoothies because when I blend it thickens into a soft serve consistency.
I can’t wait to try some of your recipes. Thanks for sharing!
We make smoothies almost everyday also. I put spinach and kale in mine so that the kids are getting greens and I use water instead of milk since we don’t use milk ( watch forks over knives). Their is a website called greensmoothie girl.com who is awesome and has many recipes. The more fruits and veggies we can get into our kids the better, right…..
We LOVE greensmoothie girl! the greens may change the color of the smoothies but you don’t taste them, especially if you add a little agave nectar! We also sneak in extra probiotics or powdered supplements this way : )
Plant foods like the ones you’ve listed above contain a considerable amount of substances called oxalates and phytates that bind to calcium and therefore prevent it from being absorbed. It takes the form of a calcium salt and can cause kidney stones. Take spinach for example: cooked spinach contains 129 mg of calcium per 125 ml (1/2 cup), which is higher than almost everything except milk (315 mg) and other dairy products. But only 5% ( or 6 mg ) of it is absorbed, which is very little compared to 32 % of milk’s calcium (101 mg). That means you’d have to consume 15 servings of spinach to equal a single serving of milk.
We make smoothies all the time, using pastured raw milk and raw egg yolk for protein and the critical fats (fat soluble vitamins) that are needed to absorb calcium. We tend to make huge batches and freeze them in popsicle makers for smoothie pops.
Forks Over Knives is great to get ppl thinking but the science used is critically flawed. Also, agave nectar is processed in a similar way to HFCS.
When you say the science of Forks Over Knives is critically flawed, I am curious what support you have for that. I was lead to the Wellness Forum Website (involved with Forks over Knives), after reading “The China Study” (which is a scientific study of the interraction between diet and disease heralded by the Wall Street Journal as the most comprehensive epidemiological study of diet ever conducted.) I looked into taking a plant based nutrition course offered by e-Cornell (an Ivy league institution) in order to figure out what to feed my family of 5, because the China Study implicates dairy products as directly influencing the rate of cancer growth. I called Cornell and they said I should contact “the Wellness Forum” to take their course because it was designed for families. the Wellness Forum is affiliated with Forks Over Knives. I have been eating the way they recommend for about two months now and have literally not felt this amazing since I was a teenager. My husband, who has been overweight his entire life, is losing weight without hunger and I have never seen him so energetic. Most people basically laughed at me (my husband included) when I advocated a plant based, Whole Foods, almost vegan diet. But each of our parents, after eating at our homes, has adopted this mode of eating. Each of them is losing weight and experiencing more vitality. I would not normally share this sort of information, but your statements, while I am sure well intended, seem unfounded in their own right. This is probably not the forum to address these issues in detail, but I hope others will not discount Forks Over Knives too readily and will consider the inclusion of green foods in their smoothies.
My husband just made some smoothies yesterday that look a lot like your picture above. :o) We had some really ripe bananas and strawberries. He threw in some blueberries, yogurt, almond milk and served it up with straws. Yummy! Wish our son would drink them. Thanks for the tips on freezing portions for future smoothies. Great time-saving idea!
We have smoothies daily here as well. I would like to give you an idea, maybe to add to your recipe sometime… I have twin boys with Epilepsy and we always have to ward off any kind of colds etc… (to reduce seizures from happening) I have always given my boys healthy foods to help keep their immune systems boosted because of this… SO – when we make smoothies we always add in some Kefir, you have probably heard about this but I can’t say enough praise about it (http://www.lifeway.net/Probiotics/). Adding it to my sons diet has improved their immune systems greatly and it is so awesome for probiotics. Some of the Kefir flavors can be strong tasting so I add in half milk and half kefir, we prefer strawberry flavor. OH and you can buy it at the grocery store in the dairy isle.
I thought we would just send what we do your way. You have given us so many great ideas for schooling and we appreciate everything you do! Thank you Erica!
We have smoothies almost daily as well. I always add a little protein powder as I have twin boys who have not taken to eating meat. I also made a recent, should-have-been-obvious discovery that has added a new flavor to our smoothies…canned pineapple! We buy cans of Dole pineapple in 100% juice. I use the entire can, juice included instead of orange juice, and it makes a great and flavorful smoothie!
For a treat (usuall at snacktime, not breakfast) we do banana chocolate smoothies as well! Even better with a little peanut butter! Seriously, you can make a smoothie out of about anything.
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